Hard Knocks

    As June comes to a close soon all I can say is there's more hardship  for us. The cancer test revealed the colon is completely clear. YAY!!  But there are those newer lumps and bumps all on the left side of me, my limbs and my tummy and my chest, likely tumours that have had a chance to develop over the last five years. The cancer surgery removed the large stage three mass from the colon but that didn't make me cancer clear.
   For me having chemo was not an option at all. The success rate of surviving that with an already weakened immune system just was not for me because I would likely not have been able to survive the secondary infections. I already have a chronic lung and immune deficiency from over exposure to mould while teaching many years in a mould ridden portable classrooms.
   My chosen option using alternative medicine is working reasonably well when I stick to it but being human I did slip up after my daughter married and left for UK. I failed to exercise and eat carefully and stopped drinking some specialty teas and other natural juices. I realized my foolishness in January when all the cancer symptoms reappeared after another bout of pneumonia so I quickly got back to the better routine of healthier foods and lots of activity. Our body needs plenty of oxygen for it to do its job properly and being active makes that possible.
   Buddy had begun to have another flared up skin plaque, likely caused by worry? Anyway on June 16th the two of us found a great deal and booked another trip to a Caribbean resort. We packed hastily for our next day departure. Hubby drove us to the airport. He had opted to remain behind to work on filing client tax returns and other year end stuff due on June 30th. This was to be the second time ever that Buddy and I traveled alone. We were excited.
   Our trip was awesome! We walked a lot, swam a lot , danced too and ate the most vegetarian menu we could put together with only a few pieces of freshly caught fish mixed in. We also rested. All was designed to help us both regain some vigour and smile more. It worked. We were very happy the whole time. We made new friends too. It felt very special. It was a lot of fun too!

   However, we knew from text messages that at home things had taken a nasty turn and that our flight home would lead us to a very sad situation, one we could really not prepare ourselves for. Our eldest daughter picked us up from the airport on June 25th and brought us straight home where we retired right away since it was 4am.
   Later that morning I drove to the ICU at a local hospital where I had to face a very shocking and scary reality that hubby was on a respirator ,  on many IV's and heavily sedated to keep him still. He had suffered a serious brain trauma from a fall onto his head the day after we had left. Apparently it happened in the kitchen where there's marble and ceramic tiles. He hit his head on the side ,likely the countertop and then landed nose down fracturing it. When he gained consciousness much later he found himself in a pool of blood. Scared he managed to find his cell phone and make the ER call.
   When he was first admitted he appeared more surfacely hurt. He had to have stitches and a transfusion for his blood loss from his nose and skull wound. He was mobile and talking from Tuesday until Friday afternoon when all that changed because of some internal bleeding in the brain that had set in and caused some massive behavioural changes along with his ability to breath on his own. It became very erratic. From then on there has been little change in his responsiveness meaning no opening of the eyes, no squeezing a hand to a command, etc.
   Again that same evening I went to him taking along Buddy. He very much needed to see his Dad. The two of us stroked his whiskers that had begun to grow on his face and we softly talked to him. His lack of interacting with us was not important. We love him no matter what condition he's in. That's how it is. Quietly Buddy initiated a circle with the three of us joining hands and us praying for him. It was touching. 
    Since seeing hubby for the first time on the June 25th the only thing that has changed is his pneumonia has improved and a cat scan has revealed that the bleeding inside his brain is way down. 
   Today Buddy brought him his TY Beanie '#1 Dad' . He collected it from hubby's office, a place Buddy also loves to visit, where he has a desk and room of his own and would often spend time drawing or whatever pleased him while his Dad worked. He loved meeting up with the clients and they sure loved him. 
   We had to drop by to pay the employee and figure out what things will need to be attended to in the next little while. It will be a challenge for sure for all of us! Much has changed for us at in such a short time. We are now praying for hubby more than you can imagine.

   The above scene is like one from a movie drama but it is our real life drama. We are having to deal with the fact that a brain trauma has unpredictable outcomes. Here's hoping we can have one of the more positive ones, a complete recovery! 
   Please keep us in your hearts and help us along this road of hard knocks. My cancer seems far less worrisome now that a newer challenge is in front of us. And the amazing part in all of this is of course Buddy and his very touching ways to be of comfort and full of hope.

Lymph Nodes

Taken a day ago, in my spare room where I hang out so I don't disturb hubby I took this photo wearing a new treasure. I treated myself to a couple of new outfits with the help of Buddy because I have lost weight very fast as a result of the cancer invading my lymph node system and I have to take serious measures to control that.

    Much of my days I feel tired and achy but I have had a few good ones and I use those to keep house chores in line. I have hired help for big cleaning but with Buddy's skin dropping constantly from his spots of psoriasis there are daily needs to keep up a tidy place.
    Tuesday is my next colonoscopy to see how that looks. UGH!! Citromag and liquid prep(: Grrrrrrrr But the doc insists. So does hubby. In fact he's having his as well so daughter will come and watch over us for a night and entertain Buddy of course.
    Today has been my best day yet this month and I took the time to let you know I think of you , miss you and pray you'll stay with me.
Some of you are emailing me and I get those on my phone. That's so caring and cheers me up a lot! you are so kind.
Please do continue if you feel you can and those who haven't do join me in my quest to best this. Prayers are welcome too:)
Positive energy is so special and healing too!

PS I also keep stuff on my photo blog about Buddy and so forth. The link is above.

The Dreaded C ..

  The last two months have been a stressful time that we really didn't anticipate. Our move into a nicer, healthier house was to be fun. It was until I woke up three weeks ago with severe pains in my tummy, a place that has been operated for colon cancer and was already at stage three. What a sudden blow that it has forced it's way back! Luckily I believe I can beat it again! I immediately resumed all the anti cancer stuff. Already today I feel some improvement slight change in my level of energy and I have less pain. 
   To date I have had great cancer checkups but somehow around Christmas time I felt some pangs and I wasn't feeling right. I had pneumonia and recovered but then a weird sensation of 'unwellness' kept popping up. It included some sudden hot flashes unrelated to menopause ( because I have long passed that phase). It became clear to me that the colon and lymph nodes were acting up because some tender spots especially on my left side in my belly area, my arm and leg joints and armpit became more painful. Cancer, that awful growing beast, was creeping back into my life just when I was very excited about a change in our home. Also I wanted a more active life style and I really needed to adopt it not just for me but Buddy too.
   And next came another hurdle, that flash of a severe chest pain! I had never had one before. This just came suddenly. Quickly I had cardio tests done and it was discovered that I have a blockage to the heart. While all these episodes are a part of aging I am taking care to have a speedy recovery. I pray that I can be around for many more years. I just have to get better. Hubby's rooting for me as is Buddy.
  For a break tomorrow Buddy and I are meeting up with Tina, his one time babysitter when he was just 6 and she was 12. An older blog, Tina, can be found if you wish. We recently visited her at Princess Margaret Hospital where she was recovering from a bone marrow transplant to help her recover from years of Hodgkins Lymphoma. She's home now and doing very well.
   Lunch will be fun.
   I'm so sorry that I have not been around to visit your many posts but I shall try again to be there as soon as I am better. Pray that I shall recover quickly. I do so enjoy the photos and stories you all share. They are very meaningful to me because you have taken time to read my work too. Sharing is a big part of my way of life.
   As April draws to an end I hope that the many days of cold weather and record breaking rainfall will also halt a bit for the sunshine. It's rays just tend to help me really enjoy the renewal of life as the gardens become green, plants bloom and wildlife takes up it's local residence.
   I'm hoping to sit in our new yard watching hubby grill and Ellie chase the bugs while Buddy laughs at her playful ways. But the stones are still wet from snow and rain. Let's hope May will be better.
   And where are you? I wish to meet up with you again too.

So please will you stay around while I get back on track. Your prayers and words of encouragement would be so appreciated at this time.

P.S. I just noticed that I posted this on Rolli"s birthday. My brother died in 1978 at the age of 30 and I still miss him. There's a blog about him too. Tins knew him.

The Help (Part 3)

    The train ride to Quebec City was long. The first stretch was to Montreal by a late night train. I had a sleeping berth. That was a new experience. I didn't really sleep much though. I never slept well in new places the first night and I missed my own pillow. The change over in Montreal to another track to get to the Quebec City train meant I had to be able to read the posted schedules. They were in French! It was then that I got very excited. I had arrived in a French speaking environment. I was able to get myself to the correct platform to be on the 10am train to my final stop. The last portion of the journey took another five hours. Final stop was Ste. Foy Station where I would be greeted by Mme Amyot as outlined in a letter she had sent to me.
   It was early afternoon when the trained pulled into the station. Not everyone was leaving the train but I was very happy to. On the platform I waited a bit. As the locals cleared I saw a lovely blond lady dressed very stylish heading in my direction. She had a photo that I had sent her so she could spot me and it had worked. In no time she held out her hand to welcome me. I felt a sense of relief and a tingle of terror at the same time. Would I be able to meet this lady's expectations? It was clear to me that she came from a higher social class than the immigrant family one that I was used to. She introduced herself as Monique in perfect English and invited me and my luggage to follower her to her car which turned out to be a Pontiac convertible with the top down! Wow! It was automatic too! Back home I drove a 1960 VW beetle with standard transmission.
    The ride to her home took us along the St. Lawrence River, past a seminary then up into a residential area of fancy, well maintained, luxurious homes in Sillery. She made some polite remarks to me about the area but I was too busy trying to take in all that surrounded us. It was my first ride in a car with the roof down and there was much to see. She pulled into the driveway of a  house on Rue Oak. It was to be one of my homes that summer.

The arial view shows how gorgeous their property was. The swimming pool would be one of many favourite places to pass time with the children. It was also the site for some amazing social gatherings that I was allowed to be a part of until it was time to get the children off to bed. A few times I was even allowed to return and join in once they were asleep.
Hope you'll be back for the next part of my adventure.

Yellowstone

   Though a new year has begun I feel that it's just a continuation of my daily life. Years back each new year gave me a sensation of newness but now I find that has past. Now I have to be content with each day as a new beginning. Aging altered my perspective and sense of time. It has odd effects on my way of seeing things both literally and figuratively.
   On Thursday I was watching a documentary put out by the CBC's DocZone. The broadcast was about volcanoes and their effect on our earth. But what grabbed my attention was that Yellowstone is an area that has been keenly watched for the longest time. There's even a website created just to follow its daily status. 
   Many go to Yellowstone National Park dedicated to the area in 1872. I have seen some great photos taken by visitors. Yet I don't recall much reference to the fact that the area is actually the site of a type of a volcano. Instead I hear it's an area of geysers, Old Faithful being a very popular one. The park is said to be open for visitation all year. However, there's only one entrance open during wintertime, the northern one via Montana. I doubt I shall be visiting the place. It seems a bit beyond what Buddy and I could manage. 
   Still I am curious. And this documentary gave me many glimpses. It set forth some proposals of what might occur if an eruption does happen. It was very fascinating to learn how much research is ongoing. It also showed what dangers come with any eruption in the world and how the ash affects so much. It can change the face of our earth as we know it. Could we ever devise a means to survive a major eruption?
   Next time I hear about Yellowstone I shall recall some of this. How about you? Have you visited? Are you a geyser lover? Are you aware of the volcano watch?